Coordinates	53°24′″N23°30′″N
Name	FIFPro
Size	137px
Alt	FIFPro logo
Formation	1965
Location	Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	43 members
Leader title	Chairman
Leader name	Leonardo Grosso
Website	http://www.fifpro.org
Remarks	}}

The Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionnels (English - International Federation of Professional Footballers), usually known by the abbreviation FIFPro, is a worldwide representative organization for professional football players. At the moment there are 43 national players associations who are members of FIFPro. There are 8 candidate members and 5 observers.

Brief history

On 15 December 1965 representatives of the French, Scottish, English, Italian and Dutch players' associations met in Paris, with the objective of setting up an international federation for footballers.

In the second half of June 1966 the first FIFPro congress took place in London, just before the start of the World Championship. The articles of association of FIFPro were thereby adopted and the objectives accurately laid down. FIFPro was responsible for increasing the solidarity between professional football players and players' associations. FIFPro tried to offer the players' associations or other interest associations the means for mutual consultation and co-operation to achieve their objectives. In addition, it wished to co-ordinate the activities of the different affiliated groups in order to promote the interests of all professional football players. Indeed, FIFPro likewise had in mind propagating and defending the rights of professional football players. The emphasis was thereby laid on the freedom of the football player to be able to choose the club of his choice at the end of his contract. It was likewise laid down that FIFPro would be helpful in every required area for setting up interest associations. These are objectives which still apply to this day.

It was originally laid down that a congress would be held once every four years at a minimum - prior to the World Championship. The congress had to uphold the course set out and with a two-third majority vote. The congress is still the most important organ of FIFPro to this very day.

It soon appeared that it was necessary to organize a congress annually, and not to limit this to once every four years. Many congresses have been held in the meantime, such as for example in 1978 in Madrid and in 1979 in Athens and Venice. In the eighties and nineties many memorable congresses have been organized in almost all the large European cities, such as Paris, Athens, Milan, Manchester, Zurich, Ghent, Lisbon, Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Tel Aviv, Rome, Johannesburg, Barcelona, Santiago and Budapest. The latest congress was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in November 2010.

The objectives of FIFPro also mean that not only FIFA applied as a talking partner. UEFA in particular, but also the European parliament and the European Commission appeared to be important points of approach. The national federations also started to become increasingly aware that, in addition to the national players' association, the international trade union FIFPro also played its role.

In recent years FIFPro has grown from a European organization into a global network. The FIFPro has done much to support countries on other continents - Asia/Oceania, Africa and South America – in their efforts to set up players’ associations. In November 2010, FIFPro welcomed the footballers’ associations of DR Congo and Ivory Coast as its newest members; members 42 and 43.

The Board

Current: FIFPro Board

President: Leonardo Grosso (AIC, Italy)

General-Secretary: Theo van Seggelen (Netherlands)

Vice-presidents: Philippe Piat (UNFP, France)

Board members Bobby Barnes (PAA, England), Louis Everard (VVCS, The Netherlands), Rinaldo Martorelli (Fenapaf/Sapesp, Brazil), David Mayébi, (AFC, Cameroon), Mads Øland, (Spillerforeningen, Denmark), Fernando Revilla (SAFAP, Peru), Luis Rubiales (AFE, Spain), Brendan Schwab (PFA, Australia), Dejan Stefanovic (SPINS, Slovenia)

Secretary to the FIFPro board: Frederique Winia (Netherlands)

Mission Statement

FIFPro has adopted its mission and its mission statement. To create its vision for the future, FIFPro at first had to define where it stands for, who it is and what it wants to achieve. In the end it has adopted its mission and its mission statement.

These are:

Mission: FIFPro supports players

Mission Statement: FIFPro is the exclusive collective international voice of the world’s professional footballers

Members

Full members

Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Bulgaria Cameroon Chile Colombia Congo DR Côte d'Ivoire Cyprus Denmark Ecuador Egypt England Finland France Greece Hungary India Indonesia Israel Italy Japan Netherlands New Zealand Norway Peru Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia Scotland Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland United States Uruguay

Candidate members

Costa Rica Ghana Malaysia Morocco Namibia Serbia Ukraine Zimbabwe

Observer members

Botswana China PR Georgia Kazakhstan Montenegro

FIFPro World XI

Each year FIFPro invites all professional footballers in the world to compose their best team of the year.

FIFPro has organized the vote for the World XI since 2005. Every year the world players' union, with the help from all of its associations, distributes more than 55,000 ballots all over the world. One ballot for each professional footballer, regardless where he is playing: Australia, Brazil, China, South Africa, Spain or the United States of America. Every player is requested to pick one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three strikers. The result of this immense election is the FIFPro World XI.

In 2009 the world players' union joined hands with FIFA. The team name has changed into the FIFA FIFPro World XI. Each year the eleven players from this elite squad will receive their awards during the FIFA World Player Gala.

FIFA FIFPro World XI

FIFPro and FIFA might cooperate, but the procedure remains the same: it’s the professional footballers who chose the World XI. FIFPro is responsible for the organization of the election.

From 2005 until 2008, FIFPro also asked the footballers to chose the Player of the Year. From 2009 on, the election for FIFPro Player of the Year has merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year and France Football’s Ballon d’Or into one grand election for the Best Footballer of the Year.

!Season	!Goalkeeper	!Defenders	!Midfielders	!Forwards
valign="top" style="text-align:left;"	2005World XI » Award History 2005		[[Paolo Maldini">Dida (goalkeeper)	style="text-align:left;"	Milan)''Alessandro Nesta ''(Milan)''John Terry ''(Chelsea)''Cafu ''(Milan)''	style="text-align:left;"| Ronaldinho '' (Barcelona) '' Claude Makélélé ''(Chelsea)''Frank Lampard ''(Chelsea)''Zinedine Zidane ''(Real Madrid)''	style="text-align:left;"|Samuel Eto'o ''(Barcelona)''Andriy Shevchenko ''(Milan)''
		Gianluigi Buffon ''(Juventus F.C.>Juventus)''	style="text-align:left;"	Lilian Thuram ''(Juventus/Barcelona'')John Terry ''(Chelsea)''Fabio Cannavaro ''(Juventus/Real Madrid)''Gianluca Zambrotta ''(Juventus/Barcelona)''	style="text-align:left;"|Andrea Pirlo ''(Milan)''Kaká ''(Milan)''Zinedine Zidane ''(Real Madrid)''	style="text-align:left;"|Samuel Eto'o ''(Barcelona)''Thierry Henry ''(Arsenal)''Ronaldinho ''(Barcelona)''
		Gianluigi Buffon ''(Juventus F.C.>Juventus)''	style="text-align:left;"	Alessandro Nesta ''(Milan)''John Terry ''(Chelsea)''Fabio Cannavaro ''(Real Madrid)''Carles Puyol ''(Barcelona)''	style="text-align:left;"|Cristiano Ronaldo ''(Manchester United)''Kaká ''(Milan)''Steven Gerrard ''(Liverpool)''	style="text-align:left;"|Lionel Messi ''(Barcelona)''Didier Drogba ''(Chelsea)''Ronaldinho ''(Barcelona)''
		Iker Casillas ''(Real Madrid)''	style="text-align:left;"	John Terry ''(Chelsea)''Rio Ferdinand ''(Manchester United)''Carles Puyol ''(Barcelona)''Sergio Ramos ''(Real Madrid)''	style="text-align:left;"|Xavi ''(Barcelona)''Steven Gerrard ''(Liverpool)''Kaká'' ''(Milan)''	style="text-align:left;"|Cristiano Ronaldo ''(Manchester United)''Fernando Torres ''(Liverpool)''Lionel Messi ''(Barcelona)''
		Iker Casillas ''(Real Madrid)''	style="text-align:left;"	Dani Alves ''(Barcelona)''John Terry ''(Chelsea)''Nemanja Vidić ''(Manchester United)''Patrice Evra ''(Manchester United)''	style="text-align:left;"|Steven Gerrard ''(Liverpool)''Xavi ''(Barcelona)''Andrés Iniesta ''(Barcelona)''	style="text-align:left;"|Cristiano Ronaldo ''(Manchester United/Real Madrid)''Lionel Messi ''(Barcelona)''Fernando Torres ''(Liverpool)''
		Iker Casillas ''(Real Madrid)''	style="text-align:left;"|Maicon ''(Internazionale)''Lúcio ''(Internazionale)''Gerard Piqué ''(Barcelona)''Carles Puyol ''(Barcelona)''	style="text-align:left;"|Wesley Sneijder ''(Internazionale)''Xavi ''(Barcelona)''Andrés Iniesta ''(Barcelona)''	style="text-align:left;"|Cristiano Ronaldo ''(Real Madrid)''David Villa ''(Valencia/Barcelona)''Lionel Messi ''(Barcelona)''

Appearance records

The player with the most appearances in the team is John Terry having appeared five times. Second are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi (four times). They are followed by several players with three appearances: Carles Puyol, Ronaldinho, Xavi, Steven Gerrard, Iker Casillas, and Kaká.

The team with the most player appearances is Barcelona with an impressive 21, almost a third of the total appearances. The rest come from Milan (9), Real Madrid (9), Chelsea (8), Manchester United (7), Juventus (5), Liverpool (5), Internazionale (3) and Arsenal (1).

World Player of the Year

!Season	!Player	!Team
2005	Ronaldinho>
2006	Ronaldinho>
2007	Kaka>
2008	Cristiano Ronaldo>
2009	Lionel Messi>
2010	Lionel Messi>

See also

FIFA Ballon d'Or

FIFA World Player of the Year

Ballon d'Or

External links

FIFPro Official Website

FIFPro World XI Website

Category:Association football trade unions Category:Global Union Federations

ca:FIFPro da:FIFPro de:Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionnels es:FIFPro fr:FIFpro it:FIFPro World XI mt:FIFPro ja:FIFPro年間最優秀選手賞 pl:FIFPro pt:FIFPro ru:ФИФПРО fi:FIFPro tr:FIFPro zh:國際職業足球員協會

Emine Bozkurt (born 9 August 1967 in Zaandam, North Holland) is a Dutch politician of Turkish descent and Member of the European Parliament since 2004. She is a member of the Labour Party, which is part of the Party of European Socialists, and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and its Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality.

She is also a substitute for the Committee on Culture and Education and a member of the delegation to the European Union–Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee.

Career

Foundation course in French language and literature (Amsterdam, 1987)

Higher degree in European studies (Amsterdam, 1992)

Qualification from the Netherlands Association for Public Relations and Information (NGPR) (1995)

Foundation for Advertising and Marketing Education (SRM) - public relations diploma (1997)

On the staff of the consulate-general, Germany (1992–1993)

Spokeswoman and head of internal and external relations, Dutch Muslim Broadcasting Company (1993–1997)

Publisher and spokeswoman, Rathenau Institute (1997–2001)

Senior adviser, Radar - advice bureau on social issues (2001–2004)

Member of the Amsterdam PvdA executive (1998–1999)

Member of the PvdA European policy advisory committee (since 1999)

Member of the core group of the PvdA multi-ethnic women's network (1997–2001)

Member of the review committee on public broadcasting (Rinnooy-Kan Committee) (2002–2003)

Member of the disputes committee of the National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO) (since 2002)

Member of the governing body of the Institute for Public and Politics (civic education)

See also

List of Dutch politicians

External links

Official website

European Parliament biography

Declaration of financial interests (in Dutch; PDF file)

Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Dutch Muslims Category:Dutch people of Turkish descent Category:Dutch politicians Category:Dutch women in politics Category:Female MEPs for the Netherlands Category:Labour Party (Netherlands) MEPs Category:Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Category:MEPs for the Netherlands 2004–2009 Category:MEPs for the Netherlands 2009–2014 Category:People from Zaanstad

fr:Emine Bozkurt nl:Emine Bozkurt pl:Emine Bozkurt ro:Emine Bozkurt

Coordinates

53°24′″N23°30′″N

{{infobox football biography | playername

Dejan StefanovićДејан Стефановић | image | dateofbirth October 28, 1974 | cityofbirth Vranje | countryofbirth SFR Yugoslavia | height | currentclub Havant & Waterlooville | clubnumber | position Centre back, Left back | years1 1993–1995 | clubs1 Red Star Belgrade | caps1 46 | goals1 9 | years2 1995–1999 | clubs2 Sheffield Wednesday | caps2 66 | goals2 4 | years3 1999 | clubs3 Perugia | caps3 0 | goals3 0 | years4 2000 | clubs4 OFK Belgrade | caps4 0 | goals4 0 | years5 2000–2003 | clubs5 Vitesse Arnhem | caps5 94 | goals5 4 | years6 2003–2007 | clubs6 Portsmouth | caps6 112 | goals6 3 | years7 2007–2008 | clubs7 Fulham | caps7 13 | goals7 0 | years8 2008–2009 | clubs8 Portsmouth | caps9 0 | goals9 0 | years9 2010– | clubs9 Havant & Waterlooville | caps8 0 | goals8 0 | nationalyears1 1995–2004 | nationalteam1 FR Yugoslavia/Serbia & Montenegro | nationalcaps1 20 | nationalgoals1 0 | pcupdate 17:00, 8 November 2008 (UTC) | ntupdate 09:14, 7 March 2008 (UTC) }}

Dejan Stefanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан Стефановић), (born October 28, 1974 in Vranjein Serbia, is a Serbian football player who plays for Conference South side Havant & Waterlooville He is a central defender who can also play at full back.

Football career

Stefanović began his career in his home town with Dinamo Vranje before being signed by Red Star Belgrade. Whilst at the club he made his international debut for FR Yugoslavia, aged 20, against Hong Kong in January 1995.

For the second part of the 1995/96 season, English club Sheffield Wednesday signed both Stefanović and compatriot, striker Darko Kovačević. Stefanović cost the English club £2 million. However, Stefanović struggled to break into the Wednesday side with Emerson Thome and Des Walker among those ahead of him in the pecking order.

In 1998/99, after playing 72 games for the club, Stefanović was released on a free transfer, signing for A.C. Perugia. However, the move did not work out and before long he returned to Serbia with OFK Belgrade.

Stefanović moved to his third club of the 1999/2000 season when transferring to Vitesse Arnhem of the Netherlands. He quickly became a first team regular, and spent four years at the club, becoming captain during that time. At Vitesse he played the six UEFA Cup-matches on his resume.

At the start of the 2003/04 season, he returned to England with Premiership newcomers Portsmouth for £1.85million. He established himself as a first choice defender during the club's first season in the top-flight, and was a regular in the 2004/05 campaign, winning the fans' player of the season award. He was made Portsmouth captain by Alain Perrin in the 2005/2006 season, although a dip in form and a habit of speaking out to the press earned him the ire of some supporters. Indeed, he confessed to "not giving 100%" under Perrin due to disliking the French coach, comments criticised as highly unprofessional by some fans.

Stefanović's influence on chairman (and fellow Serbian) Milan Mandarić is said to have been an important factor in the dismissal of Perrin and the re-appointment of Harry Redknapp and he was an important member of the side that survived at Wigan in the penultimate game of the season.

Stefanović was converted to a left back at the start of 2006/07 and was a mainstay of the defence that performed so well for Portsmouth during the season. However, the arrivals of Hermann Hreiðarsson and Sylvain Distin during the summer of 2007 cast his position as a first team regular into doubt and he was replaced as captain by Sol Campbell for the 2007/08 season.

In August 2007 Rangers revealed an interest in signing Stefanović but he signed for Fulham. Having spent less than a year at Craven Cottage, he moved to Norwich City on 18 July 2008, agreeing a two year deal. After twelve starts for the Canaries in which he picked up one red card, Stefanović ruptured his cruciate knee ligaments and didn't play again for Norwich City in the 2008/2009 season.

In August 2009, it was reported that Stefanović was in negotiations to leave Norwich, with the player wishing to return to the south of England. On 1 September 2009, his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Stefanovic retired in late 2009 due to a knee injury but still lives in the Portsmouth area and has admitted his dreams of managing Portsmouth Football Club one day.

On 7 October 2010 Stefanovic joined Havant & Waterlooville as a player-coach.

Career statistics

|- |1992–93||rowspan="3"|Red Star Belgrade||rowspan="3"|First League||2||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1993–94||14||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1994–95||30||9|||||||||||||||| |- |1995–96||rowspan="4"|Sheffield Wednesday||rowspan="4"|Premier League||6||0||0||0||0||0||-||-||6||0 |- |1996–97||29||2||1||0||1||0||-||-||30||2 |- |1997–98||20||2||0||0||1||0||-||-||21||2 |- |1998–99||11||0||2||1||0||0||-||-||13||1 |- |1999–00||Perugia||Serie A||0||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1999-00||OFK Beograd||First League||0||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1999-00||rowspan="4"|Vitesse||rowspan="4"|Eredivisie||14||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||14||0 |- |2000–01||27||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||27||1 |- |2001–02||25||3||0||0||0||0||0||0||25||3 |- |2002–03||27||1||0||0||0||0||6||0||27||1 |- |2003–04||rowspan="4"|Portsmouth||rowspan="4"|Premier League||32||3||3||0||2||0||-||-||37||3 |- |2004–05||32||0||2||0||2||0||-||-||36||0 |- |2005–06||28||0||2||0||1||0||-||-||31||0 |- |2006–07||20||0||0||0||0||0||-||-||20||0 |- |2007–08||Fulham||Premier League||13||0||2||0||0||0||-||-||15||0 |- |2008–09||Norwich City||Championship||12||0|||||||||||||||| 46||9|||||||||||||||| 191||7||12||1||7||0||0||0||210||8 0||0|||||||||||||||| 94||4|||||||||||||||| 331||20||||||||||||||||

International career

Stefanović is a full Serbian international, earning his first call-up in 1995 (The country was then known as Yugoslavia, changing to Serbia and Montenegro in 2003). He has a total of 20 caps to his name. Stefanović retired from international football in 2004.

External links

BBC profile

FootballDatabase provides Dejan Stefanović's profile and stats

References

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:People from Vranje Category:Serbian footballers Category:Serbia and Montenegro international footballers Category:Association football defenders Category:Red Star Belgrade footballers Category:Premier League players Category:Eredivisie players Category:Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Category:Perugia Calcio players Category:OFK Beograd players Category:SBV Vitesse players Category:Portsmouth F.C. players Category:Fulham F.C. players Category:Norwich City F.C. players Category:Expatriate footballers in Italy Category:Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Category:Expatriate footballers in England

ar:ديجان ستيفانوفيتش de:Dejan Stefanović es:Dejan Stefanović fr:Dejan Stefanović it:Dejan Stefanović nl:Dejan Stefanović ja:デヤン・ステファノヴィッチ pl:Dejan Stefanović pt:Dejan Stefanović ru:Стефанович, Деян fi:Dejan Stefanović

Coordinates	53°24′″N23°30′″N
playername	Gerard Piqué
fullname	Gerard Piqué i Bernabeu
dateofbirth	February 02, 1987
cityofbirth	Barcelona
countryofbirth	Spain
height
position	Centre back
currentclub	Barcelona
clubnumber	3
youthyears1	1997–2004 |youthclubs1Barcelona
years1	2004–2008 |clubs1Manchester United |caps112 |goals12
years2	2006–2007 |clubs2→ Zaragoza (loan) |caps222 |goals22
years3	2008– |clubs3Barcelona |caps388 |goals36
nationalyears1	2002–2003 |nationalteam1Spain U16 |nationalcaps17 |nationalgoals12
nationalyears2	2004 |nationalteam2Spain U17 |nationalcaps28 |nationalgoals23
nationalyears3	2006 |nationalteam3Spain U19 |nationalcaps38 |nationalgoals33
nationalyears4	2007 |nationalteam4Spain U20 |nationalcaps45 |nationalgoals41
nationalyears5	2006–2008 |nationalteam5Spain U21 |nationalcaps512 |nationalgoals51
nationalyears6	2009– |nationalteam6Spain |nationalcaps633 |nationalgoals64
nationalyears7	2004– |nationalteam7Catalonia |nationalcaps74 |nationalgoals70
pcupdate	16 April 2011
ntupdate	25 March 2011 }}

Gerard Piqué i Bernabéu (; born 2 February 1987 in Barcelona, Catalonia) is a Spanish footballer, currently playing as a central defender for FC Barcelona.

A product of Barça's ''cantera'', he initially left the club for Manchester United in 2004, where he remained for four years, before returning to Barça under Josep Guardiola's leadership, helping the club become the first football club ever to complete The Sextuple. Piqué is one of four players to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams, the others being Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Samuel Eto'o.

Piqué has also represented the Spanish national team, making his debut on 11 February 2009. He played an integral role in the Spain team that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Piqué started his career in FC Barcelona's youth teams as a defensive midfielder, but before he signed his first professional contract with the club, he decided to join Manchester United. The Premier League side did not pay a fee for Piqué as he was too young to have a professional contract.

Manchester United

Piqué made his debut for Manchester United in October 2004, as a late replacement for John O'Shea in a 3–0 League Cup victory at Crewe Alexandra as a centre back. He made his full debut on 29 March 2006 against West Ham United, in a Premier League match at Old Trafford, playing at right back, as Gary Neville was unavailable through injury.

His performances, most notably in the reserve team, earned him a new contract, which he signed in February 2005 to run until the summer of 2009. On 4 August 2006, however, La Liga side Real Zaragoza secured Piqué on a season-long loan. The conditions of the loan involved Piqué having to feature in at least 20 games for the Aragonese outfit, which he did, as he made 22 first team appearances in a successful spell, alongside Argentine Gabriel Milito (who would sign with ''Barça'' for 2007–08), either as a stopper or a holding midfielder.

On 5 May 2007, it was announced that Piqué would be staying at Old Trafford for the following season. Sir Alex Ferguson had intended to assess Pique's form at La Romareda on 6 May, prior to a meeting where the two parties would discuss Pique's future prospects with the club. However, Ferguson was unable to appear on account of airline difficulties.

Piqué's return to Old Trafford saw him make nine league appearances during the 2007–08 season. He scored on his first start in the Champions League, a 4–0 home win against Dynamo Kyiv on 7 November 2007, as Piqué scored the first of Manchester United's four goals in that match. In doing so, he became the 450th player to score at least one goal for the club. His second goal for the club also came in the Champions League, in an away match to Roma on 12 December 2007.

Return to Barcelona

On 27 May 2008, Piqué signed a four-year contract with Barcelona, with a €50 million buy-out clause. Barcelona paid a £5 million fee for the player. He expressed his joy at re-signing with his boyhood club, although he admitted he had enjoyed his spell at Manchester United:

Piqué's first goal for Barcelona came in the club's 5–2 UEFA Champions League group stage win at Sporting CP on 26 November 2008. His first domestic goal for the club followed two months later, on 29 January 2009, in a ''Copa del Rey'' match against local rivals RCD Espanyol. The goal, which came from a corner kick in the 57th minute, turned out to be the game winner in a 3–2 victory for Barcelona.

Piqué scored his first league goal for Barcelona on 2 May 2009, in a 6–2 away thrashing of Real Madrid, in ''El Clásico''. On 13 May 2009, he picked up the first trophy of his Barcelona career as he helped his club to a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final. Three days later, Barcelona clinched the league title after Real Madrid lost 3–2 to Villarreal CF, with two games left in the season.

He played against his former club Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League Final on 27 May, which Barcelona won 2–0, hence completing a historic treble. On 26 February 2010, Pique signed a contract extension that will keep him at FC Barcelona until at least the summer of 2015. On 28 April 2010, Pique scored in Barcelona's semi-final second leg against Internazionale, scoring the only Barcelona goal of the game. Barcelona lost 3–2 on aggregate.

On April 2, 2011, Pique scored the winning goal in an away La Liga match against Villarreal CF, which saw Barcelona win with 0-1, and hence continue on top of the table for the 17th consecutive week, with an 8-point difference than second-place, longtime rivals, Real Madrid.

International career

Piqué was a member of the Spain under-19 side that won the 2006 U-19 European Championship in Poland. In a 2–1 final win against Scotland, Piqué put in a strong performance in defence, hitting the crossbar with a header, and also providing his team's second goal for striker Alberto Bueno.

Subsequently, he played in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, starting all six of Spain's matches and scoring a goal in the team's come-from-behind 4–2 victory over Brazil in the round of 16. However, Piqué missed the deciding penalty against the Czech Republic and Spain were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.

On 6 February 2009, Piqué was called up to the senior squad for the friendly against England on 11 February. He played the entire match in a 2–0 win, in Seville.

On 28 March 2009, he was called-up as a replacement for injured teammate Carles Puyol, and ended up scoring the only goal in Spain's victory in the 2010 World Cup qualifier against Turkey in Madrid, in what was only his second appearance. Four days later, he also started in Istanbul in a 2–1 win, also in the group stage. Pique was Spain's first-choice centre back playing along side Barcelona teammate Carles Puyol at the World Cup finals in South Africa, starting all seven matches as Spain won the tournament, defeating the Netherlands 1–0 in the final. In Spain's 1-0 group stage defeat to Switzerland, just before Gelson Fernandes scored the only goal of the game, Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok tumbled over Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas and accidentally kicked Piqué in the face, knocking him over and leaving him with a nasty cut beside his right eye.

{{Ig match | n = 1 | d= 28 March 2009 | st= Santiago Bernabéu Stadium | ci=Madrid | co=Spain | o= TUR | sc= 1 – 0 | fr= 1 – 0 | comp=2010 World Cup Qualifier}} {{Ig match | n = 2 | d= 12 August 2009 | st= Philip II Arena | ci=Skopje | co=Macedonia | o= MKD | sc= 2 – 2 | fr= 2 – 3 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n = 3 | d= 5 September 2009 | st= Estadio Riazor | ci=A Coruña | co=Spain | o= BEL | sc= 3 – 0 | fr= 5 – 0 | comp=2010 World Cup Qualifier}} {{Ig match | n = 4 | d= 14 October 2009 | st= Bilino Polje | ci=Zenica | co=Bosnia and Herzegovina | o= BIH | sc= 0 – 1 | fr= 2 – 5 | comp=2010 World Cup Qualifier}}

Club statistics

0 0 2 !22 0 1 2 3 0

Club	Season	League	Cup	League Cup	!colspan="2"	Other	Total
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
rowspan="2"	Manchester United		0	|	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
2005–06 Manchester United F.C. season	2005–06	3	|	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
rowspan="2"	Real Zaragoza (loan)		22	|	6	1	–		0	0	0	0	28	3
!Total	|	2	6	1	–		0	0	0	0	28	3
rowspan="2"	Manchester United		9	|	0	0	1	0	3	2	0	0	13	2
!Total	!12!!0!!3!!0!!4!!0!!4!!2!!0!!0!!23!!2
rowspan="5"	Barcelona		25	|	6	1	–		14	1	0	0	45	3
2009–10 FC Barcelona season	2009–10	32	|	1	0	–		11	2	5	0	49	4
2010–11 FC Barcelona season	2010–11	31	|	7	0	–		12	1	1	0	51	4
2011–12 FC Barcelona season	2011–12	0	|	0	0	–		0	0	2	0	2	0
!Total	–!!37!!4!!8!!0!!147!!11
Career total	!123!!8!!23!!2!!4!!0!!41!!6!!8!!0!!198!!16

Off the field

Piqué was chosen to be the face of Mango men's line ''HE'' for two consecutive campaign seasons, spring-summer 2011.

Personal life

Piqué was raised in a wealthy Catalan family. His father, Joan, is a lawyer, and his mother, Montserrat, is the director of a prestigious spinal injuries hospital. He has a younger brother named Marc. His grandfather, Amador Bernabeu, is the former vice-president of Barcelona.

He is very good friends with fellow club colleague Carles Puyol, as well as former Manchester United teammates Rio Ferdinand who he often jokes around with on Twitter. Gerard has known his best friend, Spanish national teammate and Barcelona teammate Cesc Fàbregas since childhood.

Piqué is currently dating Shakira, whom he met in the summer of 2010 in South Africa where she performed at the World Cup. Piqué was also featured in the music video for Shakira's Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), to celebrate South Africa hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010. Shakira officially confirmed their relationship on March 29, 2011 via Twitter and Facebook posting a picture of the two with a caption reading, "I present to you my sunshine." in Spanish.

He uses both Twitter and Facebook to communicate with his fans and friends.

Honours

Club

;Manchester United

Premier League (1): 2007–08

FA Community Shield (1): 2007

UEFA Champions League (1): 2007–08

;Barcelona

La Liga (3): 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11

Copa del Rey (1): 2008–09

Supercopa de España (3): 2009, 2010, 2011

UEFA Champions League (2): 2008–09, 2010–11

UEFA Super Cup (1): 2009

FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2009

International

;Spain

FIFA World Cup (1): 2010

;Spain U19

UEFA U-19 Championship (1): 2006

Individual

Don Balón Award: ''Breakthrough Player'' 2009

FIFA World XI: 2010

UEFA Team of the Year: 2010

ESM Team of the Year: 2011

Prince of Asturias Awards: 2010

References

External links

FC Barcelona profile

BDFutbol profile

Transfermarkt profile

National team data

Profile at StretfordEnd.co.uk

ESPN Profile

2010 FIFA World Cup profile

Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:People from Barcelona Category:Spanish footballers Category:Catalan footballers Category:Association football defenders Category:Premier League players Category:Manchester United F.C. players Category:La Liga footballers Category:Real Zaragoza footballers Category:FC Barcelona footballers Category:Spain youth international footballers Category:Spain under-21 international footballers Category:Spain international footballers Category:2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:FIFA World Cup-winning players Category:Spanish expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in England

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Coordinates	53°24′″N23°30′″N
playername	Hans Denissen
fullname	Hans Denissen
dateofbirth	March 09, 1984
cityofbirth	Tilburg
countryofbirth	Netherlands
height
position	Forward
youthyears1	|youthclubs1 SvSSS
youthyears2	|youthclubs2 Willem II
years1	2003–2006 |clubs1 Willem II |caps1 26 |goals1 4
years2	2006–2007 |clubs2 RBC Roosendaal |caps2 18 |goals2 4
years3	2007–2008 |clubs3 MVV |caps3 16 |goals3 0
years4	2008–2009 |clubs4 Ayia Napa |caps4 |goals4
years5	2009 |clubs5 Haka |caps5 5 |goals5 0
years6	2009–2011 |clubs6 Emmen |caps6 40 |goals6 13
pcupdate	13 April 2010 (UTC) }}

Hans Denissen (born 9 March 1984 in Tilburg) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker.

Career

Denissen started his career with amateur side SvSSS from Udenhout. Here, he was discovered by hometown club, Willem II Tilburg. After going through their youth department, he was picked for the first team squad in the summer of 2003.

After his first three years, he signed with RBC Roosendaal. The following season he joined MVV, and it looked like he would spend his career in the second division of Dutch league football. Surprisingly, he transferred to Cypriot side Ayia Napa FC in Summer 2008. The following season, he moved to Finland and joined FC Haka. After only a few months, he found his way back to his home country and to the second division, as he joined FC Emmen.

References

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:Dutch footballers Category:People from Tilburg Category:Willem II Tilburg players Category:RBC Roosendaal players Category:MVV Maastricht players Category:Eredivisie players Category:Dutch expatriate footballers

nl:Hans Denissen